Pledges
Pledge to Prioritize PSS
Pledge to Prioritize Psychosocial Support (PSS) for Children & Teachers Impacted by Crises and Emergencies
Considering that:
✓ A growing number of crises and displacement are creating adverse experiences and toxic stress affecting children's emotional and mental health;
✓ Children facing crises and emergencies experience grief and loss, with limited coping mechanisms following the onset of a traumatic event and in the months and years following such events;
✓ We need to capacitate teachers, caregivers, and local and international actors with quality, trauma-informed, and inclusive psychosocial programming that strengthens social cohesion and resilience in the form of concrete self-regulation tools.
Vision & Expected Outcome:
Amal Alliance expects to provide mental health and psychosocial support to 500,000 children through flagship programs such as Colors of Kindness and the Rainbow of Education, identified as one of the most impactful and scalable solutions in the field by the LEGO Foundation and HundrED, by 2027. Through collaboration with global partners, Amal aims to reach a minimum of 250,000 children in early childhood, 250,000 children in primary, and capacitate 6,000 teachers, caregivers, and social workers. Further, Amal Alliance expects to develop a tool to support the recovery and psychosocial needs of children and caregivers experiencing grief and loss following the onset of a crisis.
Ahead of UNHCR's Global Refugee Forum 2023, Amal Alliance and partners hereby pledge to:
✓ Prioritize the psychosocial wellbeing of refugee and host community children, as well as teachers and caregivers, through implementation of Colors of Kindness and collaboration with global partners (see Appendix B; Appendix C).
✓ Prioritize children's psychosocial needs through evidence-based social emotional learning programs that build resilience and the necessary skills to support children's growth into peaceful, successful community members (see Appendix A; Appendix B; Appendix C).
✓ Address the specific needs of girls and young women, boys and young men through inclusive and culturally competent programming (see Appendix B). Train educators, caregivers, and emergency practitioners with coping skills and self-regulation techniques that address chronic stress and promote self-care to support their personal mental health and learning needs (see Appendix A, Part 2; Appendix C).
✓ Train educators, caregivers, and emergency practitioners with coping skills and self-regulation techniques that address chronic stress and promote self-care to support their personal mental health and learning needs (see Appendix A, Part 2; Appendix C).
✓ Develop innovative tools that support the recovery and resilience of children, caregivers, and communities who have experienced grief and loss during the immediate onset of a disaster or crisis (see Appendix A, Part 1; Appendix B, Part 2).
✓ Provide holistic health and wellbeing care through Bioiatriki Nutrition assessments and a personalized nutrition guideline to 500 families from vulnerable backgrounds and young refugees in Athens, Greece to support their mental and physical health (Appendix D).
We invite:
States, agencies, and public and private funders to prioritize psychosocial wellbeing of children, as well as teachers and caregivers, through implementation of Colors of Kindness and other Amal programs;
Front line agencies and organizations to disseminate resources, upon development, that strategically address the mental health needs of children related to grief and loss during the immediate onset of a disaster or crisis;
Stakeholders and involved partners to collaborate in developing and leveraging evidence-based interventions cohesively to ensure equitable and fair distribution of such resources.
We, the undersigned organizations and colleagues, endorse and/or support this pledge:
• Bioiatriki Nutrition & Bioiatriki Group in partnership with The Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation
• Boston University School of Social Work
• Dråpen i Havet
• EASEL Lab of Harvard Graduate School of Education
• HundrED
• Karanga
• Learning in Times of Crisis
• Salzburg Global Seminar
• The FAWCO Foundation
• The World Organisation for Early Childhood Education (OMEP)
Appendices
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Part 1. The creation and further development of important tools such as hotlines for psychological support, the inclusion of MHPSS support within safe spaces for survivors of violence, particularly sexual and gender-based violence and innovative approaches to help reaching out to vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations; articularly those on the move (EU, IOM).
Part 2. The support to advocacy, knowledge dissemination, guidance development and integration, and training activities related to peacebuilding, through the co-leadership of the IASC working group on MHPSS and PB (IOM).
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Part 1. Access to key services (MHPSS) By 2027, Amal Alliance commits to providing Colors of Kindness, a mental health and psycho-social support program that is inclusive of refugee and host community children, and strengthens proactive outreach and targeted approaches to overcome barriers.
Part 2. Protective & inclusive education By 2027, Amal Alliance in Greece and Uganda commits to providing access to quality social and emotional learning inclusive education programs for children in early grades, and growing their breadth of skills and competencies.
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Action 1. Commit to embedding MHPSS + SEL into education sector plans, budgets, projects and programs. Implementing agencies will do this in alignment with national level policies and priorities. This includes incorporating MHPSS + SEL into curricula, teacher training and professional development programs and student assessments starting from early childhood education through to secondary, professional and post-secondary education;
Action 3. Invest in the training of teaching staff, school administrators and those involved in the care and support of students to enhance their capacity to refer to deliver MHPSS + SEL interventions;
Action 4. Strengthen national education policies and programs that support safe, nurturing and inclusive learning environments, including curriculum that promotes social and emotional learning as a complement to literacy and numeracy outcomes; Action 6. Invest in school and community-based awareness raising campaigns to address the stigma and discrimination associated with mental health and psychosocial wellbeing;
Action 7. Design and deliver MHPSS + SEL interventions that promote equity and inclusion, with specific consideration to the needs of the most marginalized children and youth, including refugee and displaced communities;
Action 10. Ensure that MHPSS + SEL interventions in refugee-hosting schools are designed in collaboration with other relevant Ministries, including refugee or foreign affairs, health, protection, finance, gender and social services, to provide multi-sectoral and comprehensive support for children, youth and teachers.
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The Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation, a global charitable foundation started by Antetokounmpo family is partnering with Biolatriki Nutrition, a scientifically qualified nutrition center powered by the Bioiatriki Group, to multiply the impact of its AntetokounBros Academy program through offering a holistic healthcare assessment and a personalized nutrition guideline to every participant of the AntetokounBros Academy. The program serves kids from low-income Greek and immigrant families, as well as young refugees in Athens. Through this collaboration for the 2023/2024 season, the partners hope to support families from vulnerable backgrounds in fostering holistic well-being.